Since doing hot compresses can't sleep at night

[Arcaeon]

Hey all


Yes another utterly bizarre correlation by me. Pretty much the exact day I started doing warm compresses/scrubs/massages, give or take a day, I started waking up constantly through the night with really, really painful and dry eyes. Before this, I never ever once woke up with this feeling despite of course having terrible dry eyes during the day.

What the hell??

Do the warm compresses do something to your eye that makes it more dry at night? The only other thing I can come up with is that maybe the compresses are too hot ( I do them really pretty hot ) and are actually burning my eyes or something, so I keep waking up from it.


Ehhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!

Anyone else had this prob?

[NYer]

The compresses should not be that hot. The idea is that it is simply supposed to soften up the oil and gunk that is clogging your oil glands. It's supposed to be a gentle process. And if you have rosacea, you shouldn't even use hot compresses...just either briefly a warm compress or just the heat from being in the shower will do. And your lid "scrubs" should not be scrubby. Again, clean gently - and don't bother with the shampoo or soap...it's irritating. Just clean with a Q-Tip and water or saline.

[bernmee]

And if you have rosacea, you shouldn't even use hot compresses...just either briefly a warm compress or just the heat from being in the shower will do. .

I have just been told I have roscea and MGD. I have been told to do warm compresses but no scrubs as I had Lasik that has caused the eye pain.

I'm confused about what you said about warm compresses and roseacea, I have thought the extra heat would make my roseacea worse but was doing the compress as I was directed...I'm a little confused...

B

[acarol]

Hey all


Yes another utterly bizarre correlation by me. Pretty much the exact day I started doing warm compresses/scrubs/massages, give or take a day, I started waking up constantly through the night with really, really painful and dry eyes. Before this, I never ever once woke up with this feeling despite of course having terrible dry eyes during the day.

What the hell??

Do the warm compresses do something to your eye that makes it more dry at night? The only other thing I can come up with is that maybe the compresses are too hot ( I do them really pretty hot ) and are actually burning my eyes or something, so I keep waking up from it.


Ehhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!

Anyone else had this prob?

Do you use drops afterwards?

I found mine got bit dryer after a warm compress so i do steaming now instead, then massaging the lids then clean and apply drops.

[NYer]

Hi Bern,

Yes, heat isn't good for rosacea. But warm compresses, rather than hot, just once a day (apparently) is supposed to be OK. The problem is that you need the heat to soften up the gunk in the glands to express them. But the heat on the skin/eyes can aggravate the rosacea. So we have to find a happy medium.
Dr. L told me to let the water in the shower hit your closed eyes and do the compressions right after the shower. I've been trying that lately.

ACarol, when you say "steaming", how do you do that?

Thanks,
NYer

[acarol]

I boil water then pour it into a bowl then put towel over my head and steam for about 10 minutes like you would if you had a stuffed up nose. I then massage and clean the lids and apply drops. I am following Stellas example. She gave me the idea.

[blackberry]

Rosacea

I've got rosacea, diagnosed by Dr. L. I found that hot compresses always made my eyes hurt afterward and feel drier. If you use a compress, use a warm one. Usually a shower first thing in the morning helps my eyes enormously. Also, if you use a q-tip at all, use if very very gently. I found that even rubbing my eyelids ever so slightly with a q-tip can sometimes hurt them. Think about being gentle with everything. The term "lid scrub" is such a misnomer.

[lboogie]

Blackberry -- I know that you are Lasik person. How are you doing these days in terms of comfort?

[bernmee]

I was confused about the distinction between hot and warm compresses, I thought they were the same thing but now I have that cleared up. Thanks!

I have been told not to do "scrubs" and am happy to leave my poor eye alone, though I do give it a light rub with my finger when I am in the shower.

Balckberry..maybe you could help me out here. I had Lasik in one eye and after switching Dr.'s I have been told I have facial rosacea and MGD in both eyes, the Lasik and the resulting erosions are why I feel the MGD now and not before.

I am confused about facial rosacea and ocular rosacea, are they one and the same...or can you have one without the other. Is MGD a form of ocular rosacaea.

I can't seem to get an answer from the internet. If you have any thoughts that would be great.

I too would love to know how you re getting on post Lasik

[NYer]

Facial rosacea and ocular rosacea are not the same thing. The definition of it is basically the same but ocular is eyes only and facial is skin on your face - usually your cheeks and nose. You don't necessarily have to have both. It's very common to have both, though. I do.
MGD is not rosacea. But I have it, too. I think you are more likely to get MGD if you have rosacea, but I'm not sure about that. MGD is clogged oil glands in your eyelids. I think that because your eyes are already inflamed from rosacea, they then can get MGD more easily. But that's just my understanding of it.

[bernmee]

Then I have facial rosacea and MGD, not ocular rosacea...I guess the inflammation of the face is causing some sort of inflammation of the eye lid.

If only my Lasik surgeon had just looked a little further beyond just my eye ball!

B.

[NYer]

Not quite sure how you got that diagnosis from what I wrote. You probably DO have ocular rosacea, too. Facial rosacea doesn't cause MGD. But if you have OCULAR rosacea (eye rosacea), you get all kinds of symptoms like dry eye, grittiness, and all sorts of other stuff.

[bernmee]

I picked up on the word "inflammation" of the eye for ocular rosacea and was thinking red bloodshot eyes, that I don't have. I got the impression from my new Dr. that I didn't have ocular rosacea, but I will have to get him to confirm that for me as he skimmed over expalining these terms.

I understand that MGD is inflammation of the eyelids caused by blocked oil glands.

So if I have this right ocular rosacea is inflammation of the eye, but is that the eyeball itself?

So what is blephitis? I understand it is inflammation of the eye/eye lids...does it have its own cause or is it a catch all phrase for the above two.

Thanks for clearing this up for me, I was told I had MGD just 10 days ago and am just getting a grip on all these new terms!

B.

[NYer]

Check out the Dry Eye Encyclopedia on this site. Here's a link to it. It'll answer most of whatever you can think of to ask!

http://www.dryeyezone.com/encyclopedia/index.html

[blackberry]

Post Lasik

My post-lasik eyes are a chore, but my mood is much better. I began taking prozac last year, and was able to work and go to school full-time -- a major accomplishment, after having been sidelined with such horrible dry eye after lasik in 2001. I still have trouble with ocular rosacea. It's a really tough nut to crack. Some days my eyes feel pretty good -- some days they burn. I try to keep up with lid scrubs, rinsing my eyes, and not touching them. I think hygiene is so important, but it's hard to keep my mitts off my eyes when they itch.

One of my other main ocular problems -- I had a torn retina in my left eye on Christmas Eve. Thanks Santa! I still have clouded vision eight months later in that eye. If it's not one thing, it's another.

I also have figured out that I may have this strange disease called ehlers danlos -- it's a genetic connective tissue disorder. In one form of this disease, people tend to be high myopes, so it's worth checking into for those among us who are very nearsighted. Sorry to go on, keep plugging away at your routines everyone and keep the faith.